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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24878749">Long Live the Queen</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/swiftstart/pseuds/swiftstart'>swiftstart</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Elena of Avalor (Cartoon), Sofia the First (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>8 years after coronation day, Future Fic, Gen, dark future, malvago mateo, who is the real villain?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:46:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,265</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24878749</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/swiftstart/pseuds/swiftstart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>8 years after the coronation of Queen Elena Castillo Flores, much has changed in Avalor. Elena finds herself betrayed by her once best friend, who for unknown reasons is traveling overseas to the kingdom of Enchancia.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gabriel "Gabe" Núñez/Naomi Turner, Mateo de Alva/Elena Castillo Flores</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Gabe</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Gabe</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you certain it was them?” Gabe asked, hurrying after Antonia through the nighttime streets of Avalor City. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Positive Captain. A man and a woman, one with a tamborita, the other with a staff.” Antonia replied.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But it’s been months since we’ve heard anything, they wouldn’t just resurface in the middle of the city.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who's to say what goes on in the heads of malvagos.” Antonia muttered grimly as they came to their destination. They weren’t far from the port. From where Gabe was he could see the tops of tallships from all over the world peeking out over the rooftops; their flags identifying them as coming from everywhere from Enchancia to Norberg. The street below was a mess from the fight. Buildings had shattered windows, and broken pottery lay in the street, while magic scorch marks scarred plaster walls. A cart had toppled over and lost its front wheels. There was no sign of it’s horse or driver. A couple of Gabe’s guards were pulled off to the side, receiving medical attention. They didn’t look too worse for wear but Gabe didn’t like to see them down. Smashed flower pots crunched under his boots. If only he had been here...</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Guardsmen, report!” Gabe ordered, facing the injured guards, “What happened here?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gabe already had a pretty good idea of what had happened, but wanted to hear it from the source.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We were patrolling in the port district sir.” Began the first one; Manny. He was young and new to the guard. Almost as young as Gabe had been when he’d enlisted. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The Delgado woman- she, she came out of nowhere. She fired right at us with her magic- it knocked Carlos right out. We sent up signals for back-up, but she was relentless sir.” Continued the second guard, Enrique. “Our magic was a joke against hers.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You're lucky she didn’t kill you.” Gabe said sternly, wishing, not for the first time that his guards had more formidable magic training. At least the signal spells had worked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’ll get ‘em next time for sure sir. We promise.” Manny said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I like that attitude. For now though you need to rest up.” Gabe said, before running his hand along a particular scorch mark set into the plaster.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And what about the second malvago? I was told that there was a second malvago.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Manny and Enrique exchanged glances.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He… he was here too sir.” Enrique began.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We almost didn’t see him- he was on the rooftops, using that weird staff of his.” Manny continued, “It was like he didn’t want to be seen- he teleported into alleyways and onto the roofs while she did all the fighting.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you saw him at all it means that he wanted to be seen.” Gabe murmured, clenching his fist. “Which way did he go?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Away from the harbor- towards the inner city.” Manny said, “But sir, the Delgado, she went towards the city gates.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then why were they at the harbor?” Gabe wondered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe it’s where they got in from.” Antonia supplied.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe…” Gabe was doubtful, “Antonia, you take a team to the city gates, I’ll head to the inner city. I suspect those two are long gone by now. But we might find some clues.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right away sir!” Antonia said, marching off to direct her squadron.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Gabe frowned. He knew it was pointless to check the gates and the city. These malvagos were much trickier than any he had faced in the past. Shuriki had been dangerous, but predictable. And he’d lost track of the number of times he’d managed to track and capture Victor and Carla. Even Ash and Esteban were never this slippery; if anything they just got lucky, a lot. No, these two had been evading Gabe and his guards for almost two years now, and they were something else. Carla Delgado and Mateo de Alva were the most dangerous malvagos of all time. The liar and the former royal wizard. Gabe flinched. He hated to even think about Mateo. When Esteban had betrayed them, it had hurt, but Gabe was able to deal with it. The key difference here was that he’d never really liked Esteban that much to begin with. Mateo though… Mateo was a friend. Mateo had saved his life time and time again, and sure they butted heads a lot- especially over magic, but he was someone Gabe could count on to be there for him, Avalor, and most importantly, for Elena. Gabe could never have imagined anything like what had happened.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He would never have guessed that Mateo would become a malvago. That he would free Carla Delgado from prison. That he would steal the shattered pieces of Esteban’s lightning staff from the treasury. That the pair of them would try and kill Elena in order to take the throne for themselves. That they’d try and turn Elena to stone. Fortunately, Elena had won that fight. Unfortunately Mateo and Carla had gotten away. Gabe still couldn’t wrap his head over why Mateo would do any of that. What had happened to make him do any of it? It didn’t take a genius to know that Mateo was in love with Elena. So why had he turned on her? A feeling of dread sat in Gabe’s chest as he turned and left the shattered street. Where was Mateo now and what was he planning?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Mateo</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Mateo</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>If Mateo had known how cold the open sea was, he would have turned himself into something with thicker fur. As it stood though, he was beginning to think that there truly was no worse animal to be than a rat. He was small, easily stepped on and at the moment, wet, bedraggled, hungry and extremely tired of hiding in cold dark crevices. He couldn’t believe he let Carla talk him into this. But apparently a cat drew too much attention and a seagull wouldn’t ride the whole way with the ship. That and according to Carla, as a cat he looked ‘too obviously Mateo-y’. Creeping into his dry little crevice, Mateo shivered, trying to encourage his course brown fur to be dry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Breadcrumbs for dinner again Mateo.” He whispered, barely audible, just to hear the sound of his own voice. He sat himself down with his gathered ‘dinner’, unfolding the small scrap of rag he’d been keeping it in. A sorry collection of crumbs and scraps looked back at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ship should make port in a week if what the Captain said is true…” He continued to no one, sampling a crumb that might have been bacon. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been living as a rat now. Definitely more than a week. In an ideal world they’d have gotten him onto one of those enchanted ships that could go faster than any normal ship and skip across the ocean like it was nothing. But unfortunately he’d been smuggled onto an ordinary merchant frigate. He just hoped it was worth it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Smuggling him onto a ship bound for Enchancia was the craziest thing Carla and Mateo had tried to do since their direct attack on Elena almost two years ago. Well, amongst other things. It had easily been the longest two years of his life. Before they got the anti-scrying coats and access to Zarwin’s island they’d had a long series of sleepless nights; thinking they’d found a location Elena or the other council members wouldn’t recognize only to be woken up in the night to the sound of guards and that crystalline tang of too much magic in the air. For the first time in his life Mateo had learned the true meaning of ‘roughing it’. He’d slept in trees, ruined temples, caves and even abandoned homes. If it wasn’t for Carla he probably wouldn’t have lasted a week, much less two years. He hoped she was ok… Their plan was really only half thought out. Draw the guards away from the docks with illusions while Mateo got onboard in a crate. He knew that his part of the plan had gone right, he only had to hope that Carla had evaded capture and made it back to their hideout. At least Elena wouldn’t be able to follow her there. It was funny, but back when they were really roughing it, they’d found a safe place to hide before they found a way to completely block Elena’s farsight.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Mateo had left he’d used a spell to tuck all of Abuelo's books and tools away into a sort of wizard pocket dimension. With a simple spell he could summon any book or tool he wanted. Not great for long term storage, and admittedly sometimes things fell out of it at random. But he couldn’t risk Elena and the others having access to them. He understood now why his grandfather kept his workshop and biblioteca a secret from the royal family. And also why so few wizards were trained in the Avaloran way to begin with. Avaloran magic was born from Maruvian tradition. This meant recognizing that magic was dangerous, and it’s secrets were sacred. Some people were never meant to have it or understand it.  And even if they were magical, some secrets were too precious to share with the outside world. It was inside one of Abuelo’s books that he found such a secret.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Centuries ago, an Avaloran wizard named Zarwin, (who Mateo was pretty sure he was distantly related to), became incredibly paranoid, as wizards are apt to do, and moved his entire tower, life and world into a pocket world similar to Vallestrella. Zarwin’s world was beautiful in a mostly-blue color palette sort of way. The whole place looked like you’d stepped into an old painting. It was an island of blue grass and hills alone in an endless blue sea. A blue and white ranch style house stood in the middle of the island, a wizards tower aggressively breaking into the skyline. It was beautiful. But what was especially beautiful were the mists; the mists that swirled all around the island were magical and prevented anyone from seeing inside Zarwin’s world. And that means anyone. Zarwin was off his rocker when he made the island and was convinced that the world was after his secrets- so he concocted what was probably the most potent anti-scrying charm the world has ever seen. Fortunately, after solving a few riddles, finding a lost key and doing a small ritual that involved dancing, Mateo gained access to Zarwin’s world. Standard wizard stuff. What’s important is that this meant that Carla and him finally had a base of operations where they could safely plan their next move without Elena farsighting them. It only took about 6 months of living out of tree trunks and caves. The only downside was that they had to put up with Zarwin’s slightly deranged ghost. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zarwin, having decided he “couldn’t risk his enemies in the afterlife learning his secrets,” literally tethered his soul to his island. And if Zarwin wasn’t such a pool of magical knowledge and actually kind of helpful, Mateo might have found it in his wizard bones to dislike him. Zarwin wasn’t exactly the best example of healthy wizard life choices. He regularly flew through the ranch walls screaming at the top of his lungs. Or said literally whatever was immediately on his mind. Or literally forgot who Mateo and Carla were and tried to chase them off the island. But, despite all that, it was thanks to Zarwin that Mateo was able to learn real magic. Zarwin was apparently open to blood relatives, even incredibly distant ones, learning his secrets. As a result, he taught Mateo how to enchant the anti-scrying coats. The coats were the best idea ever. The enchantment imbued every fiber of the coat with anti-scrying magic so that as long as you were wearing the coat, no one could find you. The only problem was that whenever they left Zarwin’s island, they had to wear the coat at all times. This wasn’t the worst thing in the world, though the coats weren’t exactly fashionable. Mateo’s was a deep maroon color that he’d fished out of a collection bin. Carla’s was typically purple, and a little more on trend, but still not great. What really stank was that sometimes they had to spend a week or more off the island in coats that they can’t take off even to wash. Gross. And since journeys off the island usually meant getting shot at or attacked, Mateo’s coat was more than a little battered. As it stood right now one sleeve was more patch than coat, and the hem was completely gone on the other side. If his Mama could see him…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Mama. Tears welled up in his eyes. Mateo forced down another breadcrumb. You're not allowed to think about that Mateo, he scolded himself. You know no good can come from dwelling on it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Positive thoughts Mateo. Baby jaquins. Baby Jaquins…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just a few more weeks and this will all be over Mateo, he promised himself, not for the first time, and probably not for the last. He knew one thing for certain, Elena was going to get what was coming to her.   </span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Elena</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Elena</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Elena frowned as she walked through the palace towards the garden, the events from a few weeks ago weighing on her mind. In the eight years since her coronation things had changed so much for both her and for Avalor. Some of it she’d expected. Naomi had become chancellor in place of Esteban. Gabe had expanded the guard and was the best guard captain she could have ever asked for. Isa had gone to college as a full fledged student, and even now was taking additional classes in order to get her Doctorate. Some had surprised her, and she’d had some incredibly sad surprises. Francisco, her Abuelo, well, time had caught up to ‘El Capitan’ and he had passed on to the spirit world in his sleep a few years ago. Elena’s dress was blue for three days after that happened, and it had rained the entire time. But she’d had happy surprises too. Naomi and Gabe had gotten married and not only had the most wonderful wedding, but also had a beautiful little girl named Maite. They’d named her after Mateo.. And made him her godfather too. That... that was before everything he’d done. Elena took a deep breath as she felt her magic well up inside of her. Her dress flickered a confused flash of orange and blue before fading back to red. In the last eight years Elena had finally gotten a handle on her powers. At least, most of the time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Mateo was one of the few things that stirred them up and made her feel like the lost confused princess just out of the amulet again; trying in vain to understand why the world was trying to destroy everything around her time and time again. Mateo was her first friend after being freed from the amulet. He’d stood by her side for years, together they had been through everything. They’d fought Shuriki, twice, found the pieces of the scepter of night, stopped Ash from stealing her magic, and got her scepter back when it was stolen. And yet, apparently none of that had mattered to him in the end. In the end he’d betrayed her too. Just like Esteban. Just like Cristobal. And who knows who else. She even thought that maybe he might have been in love with her, and that maybe, she was finally ready to love someone else too. But then… then he’d changed. Elena wondered if maybe she’d never really known him to begin with.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Stepping out in the gardens, Elena tried to refocus. Why after all this time had Carla resurfaced in Avalor City? And more importantly- why had she tried to make it look like Mateo was there too? They had to know that Elena would find out it was a trick. Elena had rewatched the street fight almost 30 times using her past-sight. While the guards had thought they’d been fighting both Carla and Mateo, in reality they had only been fighting Carla. Elena still wasn’t sure how but somehow Carla and Mateo had found a way around her farsight, and by extension, pastsight. This meant that whenever she tried to farsight them all she ever saw was a red or purple mist. Over the years, with a little help from Zuzo and Mateo, she’d found a few ways to get around this kind of problem, but it was far from foolproof. Sometimes by farsighting someone she knew was with or near the person who had an anti-farsight protection on them, she could see her real target, because their shield spell only protected them from being directly seen themselves. Only whatever Mateo and Carla was using made it so that they were invisible even when she tried that method. So when she pastsighted the street fight she saw the guards getting thrown around, she saw spells being cast but where the caster should be, was nothing but empty air. Carla was invisible to her. Elena knew from the guards reports that that empty space had to be Carla. However Elena also saw Mateo running on the rooftops and slipping into an alleyway, and she knew that that was impossible. If he was really there then he should be invisible to her, just like Carla. Meaning that the Mateo in the street fight had to be an illusion. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She had to admit, he was a very convincing illusion, it was no wonder he’d fooled the guards. Even with the distortion from the pastsight she could see that every detail was perfect. He had the messy long brown hair, hanging all over his face and escaping an ill-kept pony tail. He was unshaven. His clothing was a mess. He wore a wretched maroon coat that looked more tattered every time she saw it, one sleeve had been repaired so many times, it was like a patchwork quilt. The knees of his pants were patched. The sole on one of his shoes had started to detach from the base and she could see where he’d patched it together with an awkward wrap. Elena could see the toe of his sock poking through. It was such a far cry from the Mateo she’d known for years. He was always so tidy, so put-together. This Mateo tried to call back to the memory of that one; he wore a faded red necktie over his tattered green vest and blue waistband. Things that took thought and care to put on; that didn’t make sense when you were on the run. Seeing those pieces she could almost believe that her Mateo was still in there. But then he also had that thing he’d made; the tamborita staff. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Mateo had made his break and left he’d broken into the royal treasury and taken the shattered pieces of Esteban’s lightning staff. He’d fused the long silver handled black lightning tipped staff with his Abuelo’s grand tamborita, making a monstrosity of magical power. One end was sunbird patterned tamborita, the other was the crystalline staff of lightning. It was the distorted sort of weapon only a malvago would wield. He’d then used that staff to destroy all of his Abuelo’s work; sealing off first his workshop, then the royal wizards quarters with powerful magic. Focus Elena, she reminded herself. Why was he an illusion? Did something happen between him and Carla? Or was it some sort of a trick? The guards hadn’t been able to find either of them in the city and a search of the harbour had proved fruitless. None of the ships had come from anywhere where Mateo and Carla had been sighted either, so she was skeptical that that was how they’d gotten in. Nevermind the fact that they were all from ally nations that should arrest them on sight: Norberg, Hectoria, Enchancia, to name a few. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well something’s really grinding your metaphorical gears Princess.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Elena jumped as Zuzo appeared beside her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Zuzo! You scared me!” She said with a laugh, as the fox floated effortlessly in front of her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, what’s got you so wound up that you missed your favorite chanul?” Zuzo asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s still that fight with Carla and Mateo. I feel like I’m missing something really obvious Zuzo.” Elena explained. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well let’s see, from what I remember last time you’d figured out it was a trick and that they were trying to make you think something different than what was true.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well yea, they wanted us to think that they had run into the city, but obviously that wasn’t what happened. Mateo wasn’t even really there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh huh. So what does that tell us?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That they weren’t in the city?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bingo! And why would they lead you further into the city?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Elena paused for a moment and considered. Misdirection was all about drawing the person away from what they were supposed to be seeing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because Mateo was actually at the harbour- Zuzo!” Elena exclaimed as the realization struck her, “We only checked the passengers and cargo that had gotten off the ships. We didn’t check who might have gotten on them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I knew you’d figure it out! Now the real question is- which ship did he get on?” Zuzo wondered, “Avalor does have the biggest port on this side of the world after all.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And by now they are all long gone.” Elena groaned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But it gives you something to work with!” Zuzo said cheerily, “Anyways, I gotta bounce- one of my other guidees is trying to feed his sister a bug. Later Princess!” The fox disappeared with a poof, and Elena was alone in the garden once more.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What were Mateo and Carla planning? What was overseas? What did Mateo know that she didn’t? If she at least had an idea of which country he had gone to she could try and farsight people she knew there, but that was a real long shot. She never really thought about it, but she never really understood what was going on in Mateo’s head. To her he’d always been her friend. Insecure about his own strengths, but eager to help. He was careful, and meticulous and respectful. Sure he definitely had always had a rebellious side; he’d taught himself magic in secret after all, but he always knew the difference between right and wrong. Between justice and revenge. Or at least, that’s what she’d always assumed. But then, she’d never seen his change into a malvago coming. She’d never have imagined him so consumed by hatred. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Elena hadn’t even realized what was happening when Mateo and Carla had come to confront her in the Throne room. He’d gone mad with rage. Elena couldn’t understand it. He’d always told her never to let her emotions control her. He’d always stood by her every decision. Keeping Victor and Fiero imprisoned in stone. Appointing Doña Poloma and Julio for the grand council. Training the royal guards in magic. The increased guard patrols to look out for Malvagos. So what changed? Why hadn’t he been able to stand by her side for one last decision- why was this the one that changed everything? Didn’t he understand her perspective? Her feelings? She only did what was best for Avalor. And for herself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was something she had to keep reminding herself of as she walked through her garden of statues. Everything she did, she did because she had to. For the sake of Avalor, and for the sake of her own happiness. She had faced things that were beyond anything any other queen had ever experienced, ever been forced to endure. The palace garden was evidence enough of that; Victor was just the first malvago to be imprisoned in stone here. There had been others who came after him. And assassins. And old supporters of Shuriki. All kinds of wicked people who she had had no choice but to turn to stone and keep in her garden. She wondered if her parents ever imagined her facing such hardships and feared for that eventual day when Mateo would join her silent prisoners. She paused as she came to the statue that started this all. Elena should have realized the love a child has for their parent, surely she knew it better than anyone. So how had she not foreseen what would happen? She ran her hand over the cold stone face of Rafa de Alva. I’m so sorry Mateo, Elena thought bitterly, but I had no choice. And you should have realized that. But instead you called me a monster and you tried to kill me. Doesn't that make you the monster? How could I ever be the monster after everything I’ve done and been through? The statues shook as her dress flashed orange. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello readers! <br/>Long time fic writer, first time AO3 User, so bear with me if any of my formatting is yikes.</p><p>Ive been working on this little baby-fic in my free time while developing a much more complicated work with my sister I'll be posting sometime soon in the future :)</p><p>If the concept behind this fic seems familiar it's likely you've seen my youtube video on it (my username is swiftstart virtually everywhere).</p><p>What did Rafa do? What is Mateo planning? Has Elena really been wearing the same dress for the last 9 years?</p><p>See you next time in Enchancia!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Mateo</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>Mateo</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Land! Sweet, sweet land! Mateo had never been so happy to see grass before. It had been torture waiting for the ship to dock, watching as the Enchancian shoreline came closer into view. Mateo, still a rat, had stashed himself inside of a crate and waited patiently to be brought to shore. It took everything in his power not to immediately run out of the crate and turn back into a human right there on the dock. Instead, he continued to be patient. He waited for the crate to be moved from the docks to a cart. While the cart was continuing to be loaded, Mateo scurried out- leaping out of the crate and off of the cart, one of the harbor employees shrieking at him as he ran. Someone threw something at Mateo as he slid his skinny little rat body under a fence and away from the harbour. He heard glass shattering behind him as he hurried to safety.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Mateo scurried along the walls of shops, past wood framed wattle and daub buildings with slate rooftops. It was nothing like Avalor. Until now, Mateo had never been farther from home than Nueva Vista. He’d seen pictures in books of different kingdoms but somehow he’d never realized just how exciting it would be to see them in person. He didn’t know hardly the first thing about Enchancia; he wasn’t even sure what the name of the town he was in was. He was just thrilled to be somewhere new. Somewhere that wasn’t filled with complicated memories. It was refreshing to see shops and not be reminded of trips to Dona Paloma’s stores to pick up supplies or snacks with Elena and the others. It was freeing to see people in a public park and not be bombarded with memories of the Navidad parade debacle, or countless picnics, eating whatever Mama or Luisa had packed for them until they burst. Laughing by the palace fountain, helping Elena with her magic in the gardens. It… it was nice to be in a place where everywhere he went he didn’t see memories of Elena.</p>
<p>            Ducking into an alleyway, and hiding behind a dustbin, away from the eyes of people, in a flash of bright light, Mateo turned himself back into a human.</p>
<p>“Hello hands!” he said, rubbing his fingers together, running them through his tangled hair, across his face, down his sides. It had been so long since he’d been human. “I’m never taking you for granted again.”</p>
<p>Getting to his feet, Mateo stumbled forward, forgetting for a moment how walking worked. Using his staff to support himself, he looked up and down the alleyway, careful to make sure that his transformation hadn’t drawn any attention. Once he was sure he was safe, Mateo spun his tamborita-staff around and tapping the drum part on the ground, Mateo teleported himself up and onto the rooftop of the nearest building, the thrill burning through his blood. Looking out over the town and the sea, he couldn’t help but feel like he was made out of actual fireworks. He’d done it. He’d made it across the ocean, not too long ago he’d have thought this impossible. He’d made it to Enchancia. He’d actually made it to Enchancia! Turning around, he could see what had to be the palace, protected on an island in a small bay; one lone bridge being the only clear way on and off. One lone bridge was the only thing between him and Princess Sofia. The last time he’d seen her she’d only been about 10 years old, now she must be around 19 if his math was right. He’d be hard pressed to recognize her, but he had to find her. Even if it meant breaking into the palace. He would do whatever it takes to save Avalor.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            “Hello Enchancia!” Mateo called out with excitement, losing his balance and nearly slipping off of the roof. Down below a few passerby looked up at the dirty madman on the roof. It was then that Mateo remembered that normal people didn’t stand on rooftops screaming at the world.</p>
<p>“Hi- sorry; tourist. I’m a tourist. Just excited.” He said with an awkward wave, pretending he could hide his giant conspicuous clearly magical staff behind his back. If the townspeople found this strange, they didn’t let on and instead just shook their heads and kept walking. Teleporting back down the roof, Mateo stepped out of the alleyway and into the street. Next stop: The Palace. Time to continue the plan.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Mateo knew full well that he wouldn’t be able to just walk right into the palace. For starters, he looked like the sort of deranged bum who wandered the streets and pretended that once upon a time he was someone important but really just needed extreme mental help and maybe a bath. Which admittedly wasn’t an entirely inaccurate description. He also was pretty sure that Avalor had sent his wanted poster pretty much everywhere, so there was also that. So, as much as he hated it, he would have to use trickery to get in. Or master wizard magic, if he wanted to use the nicer terminology. At least this time he didn’t have to be a rat.</p>
<p>“Well hands, you were nice while you lasted.” Mateo said, spinning his staff around and reciting the spell. The staff melted away into his arm as feathers grew out of his skin and his bones turned hollow. Goodbye ground-rat, hello sky-rat, Mateo thought to himself as he turned into a pigeon. He didn't have the time or resources on him for a complex transformation spell, so Mateo used the basic avian transfiguration one. Zarwin had explained that this spell turned you into a type of bird that suited you somehow. Apparently for Mateo that meant that somewhere deep down inside he was actually a red-billed pigeon. Mateo had been hoping for something cool like a kestrel or a caracara; but given that his chanul had turned out to be a sloth rather than a jaguar, he really shouldn’t have been surprised. Carla naturally got a cool bird and was an anhinga; ‘the snake headed bird’. Mateo wasn’t that jealous. Not really. Mostly he just hoped that there weren’t many large birds of prey in Enchancia. Now in the form of a small, helpless, maroon bird, Mateo took off, his wings making a clapping noise as he took to the skies.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>            Up above the town, Mateo could now see a sign with the town's name: Dunwiddie. Definitely didn’t get places with names like that in Avalor, Mateo thought with amusement as he swerved around the clock tower bell and made his way towards the palace. Flying across the bay and over walls, he began to look for either a way into the palace, or Sofia herself. The Enchancian palace was smaller than the one in Avalor and took up the front end of the island; the castle itself was white stone topped with a collection of colorful towers and set snugly against the back of its defensive wall. Behind the castle, the majority of the island it looked like was actually an enormous garden. The garden was buzzing with people, servants mostly, setting up for some sort of event. Long tables laden with food covered the courtyard, servants were arranging flowers and banners, what appeared to be a giant rose topiary of a woman was being wheeled in by some tired looking servants. Coordinating it all was the spitting image of the topiary, a beautiful young blonde woman in a silver tiara. Sofia had a sister right? Mateo landed on top of a gazebo for a better look.</p>
<p>“Place the rose garlands a little higher please.” The woman said. She was definitely dressed like a princess, maybe a queen even in a layered ensemble of pale green and yellow. Mateo couldn’t be sure but it looked like there might have been actual gemstones sewn into it. He’d say it was a bit much, but then again, Elena had been wearing crystal encrusted dresses for the past 9 years. He’d figured out how to copy the enchantment on her first dress over to other fabrics so that she’d have more to wear without having to worry about her magic… He’d felt bad that she only had one dress… the smile on her face when he’d shown her the fabric was magical. Stop it Mateo. You’re thinking about Elena again, he scolded himself. Remember, the plan. You need to stick to the plan. Carla’s counting on you. You need to do this.</p>
<p>“Has anyone seen Sofia? I sent her to get the appetizer platters ages ago and she never came back.” The Princess called out to her servants, snapping Mateo back to reality. Did she say Sofia?</p>
<p>“Coming Amber!” A voice called. Coming carefully down the steps with a series of platters balanced precariously in her arms was a girl who could only be Sofia. She had long wavy brown hair, light blue eyes and was wearing a purple tea-length gown decorated with white flowers and pearls. But it was the amulet around her neck that confirmed it for him. He could never forget the Amulet of Avalor. Teardrop shaped, and a deep pink color. If his grandfather’s notes, and his personal experiences were correct, it was the most powerful artifact in the entire world. And here it was, around the neck of a teenage princess, who was carrying like five trays of cracker thingies  and finger foods. Mateo fluttered down closer.</p>
<p>“Amber, do you really need this many appetizers?” Sofia asked, sliding the plates onto an empty table.</p>
<p>“Sofia, we have known each other for how many years and you still need to ask that?” Amber replied amused, before smiling and adding, “Thank you for getting them for me. I just have so much to do before the party.”</p>
<p>“It’s no problem Amber. You don’t think James will eat all of the cracker things before the party again do you?” Sofia asked.</p>
<p>“Why do you think I had more made?  it’s a wonder there are any left in the kingdom.”</p>
<p>Behind them the servants were struggling with the giant topiary of Amber; it didn’t seem to be balanced quite correctly and kept leaning forward.One servant was trying to hold it down with a system of ropes and weights. The two girls paid them no heed, maybe they were used to this sort of thing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mateo flew in closer to the princesses, landing on ground beside them, not exactly sure what his plan was. He couldn’t exactly just turn back into a person now, not with all these people around. He’d just have to wait until Sofia was alone and then turn back.</p>
<p>“I’ve never seen a bird like that around here.” Sofia commented, noticing him. Mateo froze in his tracks. Act like a bird! Act like a bird! Mateo couldn’t remember what exactly it was that birds did and instead just stood frozen, head tilted, looking right at Sofia.</p>
<p>“Sofia, it’s a bird. It probably just flew here or something.” Amber said distractedly, arranging platters of cracker things, “Why don’t you just ask it what it’s doing here?”</p>
<p>“Hello there,” Sofia said, getting down on his level, “Where are you from?”</p>
<p>Does she seriously expect me to respond? Mateo wondered dumbfounded.</p>
<p>“You must be shy, don’t worry. My amulet let’s me talk to animals like you.” Sofia said with a smile.</p>
<p>“Well-” Mateo began, when the rope holding back the giant Amber topiary snapped and sent the verdant princess hurtling down towards them. For one horrifying moment Mateo’s vision was overtaken by the giant green face of Princess Amber. Then Sofia stepped forward, flicked her wrist and summoned a magical rope from her bracelet that sliced straight through the topiary of death. Bits of topiary rained from the sky, and one piece struck him on his small bird head. Mateo collapsed as a white light flashed in front of his eyes.</p>
<p>“Sofia! Your little bird friend- I’m so sorry!” He heard Amber shout as his vision started to fade.</p>
<p>“It’s not your fault Amber, I’ll take care of him. Don’t worry.” Sofia sounded miles away. The last thing Mateo was aware of was Sofia picking him up and running towards the palace. Done in by foliage Mateo, real heroic of you, he thought wryly before closing his eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Welcome to Enchancia readers!</p>
<p>Today we learned that Elena has not been wearing the same sparkly dress for the past 9 years (thank god) and also that your writer really likes birds.</p>
<p>What is Mateo planning? What could he possibly want with Sofia and her amulet?</p>
<p>Find out next time :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Sofia</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Sofia</strong>
</p><p>Sofia furrowed her brow as she flipped through the pages of a book on the birds of Enchancia and its surrounding kingdoms. She was sure of it; that little red bird wasn’t from Enchancia.<br/>“Where did you come from, little guy?” Sofia asked him gently. He was sitting in a small basket with a blanket to keep him warm, along with a bowl of special water and some seeds and fruits as well. Cedric had told her that when birds get hurt or sick the most important thing was to keep them warm. Sofia was extremely worried about the little bird. He’d spent the entire day sleeping; only opening his eyes occasionally. Sofia had gotten a healing salve from Cedric that had helped with the wound on his head, but Cedric was skeptical as ever that it would accomplish anything. Cedric even said that It would be a miracle if the bird survived the night. It was clear that the poor thing hadn’t eaten properly in a while, he was quite thin and his feathers were dull. The only problem was that because she had no idea what type of bird he was, she didn’t know what kind of foods he ate. Once, the bird had tried to speak to her again but all he’d managed to say was ‘Sofia’ before falling asleep again. Sofia hadn’t realized that the bird knew her name. He must have heard someone say my name while I was helping him, she reasoned, although something seemed strange about it all. She just couldn’t quite put her finger on it...</p><p>“Sof, I might have something here.” Clover called from the pile of books on the floor. Sofia had brought up every book the castle library had on birds; even though most of them weren’t exactly helpful. Some of them covered birds from clear on the other side of the planet, and while she was sure this bird was from far away, she doubted he was from that far away. Clover had been sifting through the books, looking at pictures mostly and getting distracted by any pictures of food.<br/>“What is it Clover?” Sofia asked, she moved to sit next to the bunny. Without magical intervention, Clover should have passed away from old age a few years ago. But with Cedric’s help, Sofia had made Clover into a full-fledged animal helper, or ‘familiar,’ as was the proper term. Animals that are familiars live as long as their human masters do, which is why Wormwood had been Cedric’s familiar for almost thirty years before his betrayal. Sofia couldn’t even begin to guess how old Merlin’s owl Archimedes was. She was no sorcerer, at least, not in the way that Cedric was, but the skills sure came in handy sometimes.<br/>“Look at this pigeon. I might be crazy, but I think it’s the same as our little feathered friend there.” Clover said, pointing a paw at an illustration of a bird just like the one they had. The only difference was that theirs had green eyes and this one's eyes were yellow.<br/>“The red-billed pigeon..” Sofia read before stopping, “Clover, this bird is native to Avalor- that’s on the other side of the world!”<br/>Sofia glanced back at the sleeping bird; there was no mistaking it, he was a perfect match.<br/>“Are you telling me that little guy flew the whole way to Enchancia?” Clover asked, amazed.<br/>“He probably rode on a boat, Clover.” Sofia replied, “I don’t think anything could fly that far.”<br/>“Avalor though. That’s pretty crazy. Isn’t that where the thing with your amulet happened?” Clover asked.</p><p>Sofia nodded, deep in thought. She hadn’t thought about Avalor in years. At least, not in any great detail. Despite the obvious connection, she and Elena had never been close. They only talked occasionally in letters, and even then it was usually only when one of them needed something, like when Sofia sent Elena her book from the Secret Library. Sofia had a feeling it was because they had a sort of mutual understanding of how strange their situation had been. Sure, there was the obvious age difference, but that hadn't stopped Sofia from making friends before. No, it was a certain sort of sadness that prevented them from being friends. Not only had Elena been trapped in the amulet for 41 years, but Elena had spent the last two years of her imprisonment watching Sofia’s life through the amulet. She knew everything about Sofia’s family, her friends, her life, but had never spoken to any of them. Maybe when Elena had been trapped she’d viewed them all as her friends in a melancholy, ghost like way. Elena had probably cheered for Sofia during her derby races, laughed at Jame’s jokes, marveled at Amber’s parties… It had to be incredibly lonely. Sofia could only imagine it. When she’d been briefly trapped in the amulet it had been so empty inside, so cold. And what about the Wassailia when Dad had gotten lost in the storm? Elena must have been scared for him too- she was the one who sent Princess Aurora to help, but then to not be part of the celebration when everyone was reunited? To not truly be included? For Sofia, Wassailia was one of the most important holidays of the year; it was about being with family and sharing your love for them. Elena would have been forced to watch as Sofia’s family celebrated and laughed and lit the candle together, while Elena, at the time at least, would have watched alone with the assumption that her entire family was gone. It was things like that that made it no wonder that they hadn’t stayed in touch; it was just too sad for Elena, and too much of a reminder of her 41 years trapped in the amulet, and Sofia understood that better than anyone.</p><p>As for Avalor… apart from trade discussions, the last that Sofia had heard from Avalor was two years ago. Elena had issued an international arrest warrant for a pair of evil wizards who had attempted to assassinate her and steal her throne. And one of those wizards was none other than Mateo. It was hard for Sofia to imagine the goofy but kind teenager she’d met during her adventure in Avalor all those years ago as evil. After Sofia left Avalor they hadn’t stayed in touch, but she liked to think that he was doing well. But then again, she knew full well that a lot can happen in a few years. She was just glad that his reported appearances never left Avalor and its surrounding kingdoms. She wouldn’t want to fight him. But, if they ever did meet… Sofia ran her hand over her enchantlet… she would be obligated to.<br/>“Anyways Sof, I was thinkin’ since we know what kinda bird he is now, we should get him comfortable yea? See if there’s any Avaloran fruits or whatever in the kitchens. That kinda thing.” Clover continued.<br/>“Good idea Clover, let’s go see what we’ve got.” Getting to her feet, Sofia opened the door, glancing back at the little bird in the basket; he looked back at her sleepily with strangely familiar green eyes. A chill ran down Sofia’s spine as she followed Clover out of the room.</p><p> </p><p>The little bird survived first the evening, and then the night, and was looking much better in the morning then he had been when Sofia checked on him. He was practically devouring the fruit that she and Clover had found for him.<br/>“Aren't you a hungry one?” Sofia said amused as she got herself ready for the day.<br/>“Maybe a little,” The bird admitted, speaking to her properly for the first time. He looked up at her anxiously after speaking, as if afraid of what she might do.<br/>“You don’t have to be scared.” Sofia assured him, “You're safe now. You must have had a real adventure to get here all the way from Avalor.”<br/>“You know I’m from Avalor? How do you know I’m from Avalor- is it my accent or?” The bird said in a panic. What is he scared of? Why doesn't he want me to know where he’s from? Sofia wondered. She couldn’t help but wonder if there was something up with this bird and immediately hated herself for it. He was probably just lost and scared.<br/>“Because of the kind of bird you are, silly.” She replied.<br/>“Oh. Right. That.. that probably should have been obvious.” The bird said, looking down at himself as if he’d forgotten. Sofia frowned as she watched him move. He didn’t move like a bird, and she would know. She'd been friends with Robin and Mia for years. While eating he kept trying to use his wings to hold onto things rather than his beak or his feet.<br/>“How did you get here anyways?” Sofia asked him carefully.<br/>“Oh, I came here on a ship.” The little bird said. The longest feather on his right wing had a strange pattern on the inside, like a black lightning bolt. Sofia realized with a jolt that he might be a strangeling.<br/>“A ship?” She said, “Did you mean to get on it or did you get stuck or something?”<br/>“I meant to- actually, Princess Sofia, there’s something I need to tell you.” The little bird struggled to get out of the basket on his own, trying to pull himself up with his wings rather than his beak, before falling out face forward onto Sofia’s desk.<br/>“Ow.” He said, Sofia quickly helped him back to his feet.<br/>“What do you need to tell me?” She asked.<br/>“Uh, one moment please. This will make a lot more sense in a second.” He said, hopping over to the edge of her desk.</p><p>The small bird glided off of the desk and landed in front of her, in a flash of red light and a puff of smoke, the bird was gone, and in its place, kneeling in front of her on one knee was a young man in a filthy coat, supporting himself with a staff that was a black lightning bolt on one end, and a tambourine on the other. His hair was a tangled mess of curls that had all but escaped it’s ponytail. The injury on his head was partially healed. His battered hands were barely covered by tattered fingerless gloves. His shoes… his tall boots were once upon a time lovingly well made out of some of the finest leather Sofia had seen, with careful hand stitching on the edges and embossed symbols done in the Avaloran style. They wet the leather and carve or press in flowers and other patterns, Sofia remembered her Mother explaining to her once. Now however, the leather was cracked and broken in places. The boots themselves were coming apart at the sole, one shoe the split was so bad he’d wrapped it with an old belt in a losing bid to get more life out of the boot. These shoes had been through everything their owners had been; and it looked like they’d walked through Hell.<br/>“Princess Sofia of Enchancia; Protector of the Everrealm, Storykeeper of the Secret Library and bearer of the Amulet of Avalor, please, I need your help.” The internationally wanted criminal Mateo de Alva begged, looking up at her with a desperate look in his familiar green eyes. Sofia didn’t know what to do.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Sofia</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sofia</p>
<p>	“Sofia, please! Let me explain!” Mateo implored. Sofia wasn’t sure why Mateo thought this would go differently, in retrospect, it really should have been obvious that this is what would happen. After Mateo had revealed himself, Sofia had immediately summoned a lasso out of her enchantlet and tied him to her desk chair with the glowing gold cord. <br/>“Why are you here? You tried to kill Elena and steal her throne- what makes you think I would help you?” Sofia demanded, still trying to comprehend the fact that the small bird she saved was actually an evil magical mastermind.<br/>“I wasn’t trying to steal her throne!” Mateo insisted, “And we weren’t trying to kill her either.”<br/>Sofia paused, taken aback. “Then what were you trying to do?” She asked carefully. <br/>“We were going to turn her to stone. We were trying to stop her before she could hurt anyone else.” Mateo said earnestly. <br/>“Hurt anyone else? That doesn't sound like the Elena I know.” Sofia said hesitating. The Elena she knew wouldn’t hurt anyone. She was headstrong, sure, but she wasn’t cruel by any definition of the word. But if it wasn’t serious then why would Mateo have come here? I’m a known protector of the Everrealm, Enchancia is close allies with Avalor, it’s suicide to come to me, Sofia thought perplexed.<br/>Giving in, Sofia sighed, “You clearly went through a lot of trouble to talk to me...so it’s only fair I hear you out.” <br/>Still holding the lasso, Sofia loosened it enough that Mateo could sit comfortably in the chair.</p>
<p>“Thank you Princess Sofia. I assure you that you are going to want to hear this- it’s a matter of freedom and justice and- and-” Mateo trailed off, staring at the ground. Sofia tried to guess what he was thinking. Does he think I won’t believe him? Was all of this a trick?<br/>“Why do you need my help?” Sofia pressed after a moment of silence. Mateo gulped. “Sofia...Elena isn’t who we thought she was.” He said, his voice cracking. <br/>“What do you mean she isn’t who we think she is?” Sofia replied, brow furrowed.<br/>“I mean… I mean that she isn’t the savior of Avalor. She's its doom.” Mateo said ominously. Elena is Avalor’s doom? That was more than a little melodramatic. <br/>“When Elena was first freed, I thought anything was possible. I could practice magic without being afraid of being locked up. I could be myself for the first time ever. And Elena.. She trusted me. Even with my inexperience she made me her royal wizard- she confided in me, I confided in her. For the longest time she was the most wonderful person in my entire world.” Mateo said, his voice was bitter and at the end even wistful.<br/>“But then something happened.” Sofia suggested, pulling up a second chair and taking a seat, not breaking eye contact and still keeping the lasso around Mateo.<br/>“Yea. That’s a word for it. To be honest I think part of me had always known. I- I’m not sure when it all started. Probably with Carnaval 9 years ago. That day changed everything. I- I don’t know if you knew this but after being in the amulet for so long, Elena had some magic. But mostly it just let her use the scepter of light.”<br/>“I’d heard about that; she’s gotten quite the reputation for using it to defend Avalor.” Sofia said, nodding. Stories about the lost princess returning after half a century with magic powers to reclaim her kingdom had spread like wildfire. Apparently Elena had used the scepter to kill Shuriki even. Sofia didn’t think she’d could have killed if she were in Elena’s shoes, but she was sure that Elena had only done what she had to do to protect her family.<br/>“Well, on Carnaval Elena fell into an ancient Maruvian well of crystals- and it made her more powerful than we’d ever imagined possible. It was unreal Sofia, those early days when she was learning how to control her powers. Elena could make it rain or make the everyone in the castle dance or bring statues and paintings to life.”  <br/>“That sounds incredible.”<br/>“It was.” Mateo agreed, clearly still in awe of Elena’s abilities.<br/>“But it sounds like not all of her abilities were good.” Sofia said.<br/>“Any wizard worth his stuff can tell you that magic is not good or bad. It’s up to the wizard wielding that power if his magic is good or evil.” Mateo said firmly, as if reciting a line from a book.<br/>“And Elena used her powers for bad?” Sofia asked.<br/>Mateo sighed, “I’ll get to that. Did you hear about what happened to Chancellor Esteban?” </p>
<p>Sofia nodded, “Elena found out that he was the one who made it possible for Shuriki to take over Avalor. Esteban was responsible, at least, indirectly responsible for the deaths of Elena’s parents.”<br/>“Did you know that Esteban wasn’t given a real trial?” Mateo asked, a sharp bite of anger growing in his voice.<br/>“That… that can’t be right.” Sofia said. She remembered reading the account of his crimes that had come with the wanted poster. After receiving his sentence of exile, Esteban had escaped prison and allied himself with an evil malvago named Ash. At some point he also got his own magic powers. It must have been awful for Elena. Sofia couldn’t imagine what she’d have done in her shoes, but to say he didn’t have a trial? If he received a sentence he must have had a trial, right?<br/>“I wasn’t there.” Mateo admitted, “And there was no written transcript. But I heard what happened from everyone who was there. The same day they arrested him, Esteban was brought before the royal council and they had already decided he was guilty. They brought him in to issue his punishment. Not to defend himself. And they only let him speak once to explain himself; no outside witnesses or aides or anything were brought in. All they needed to see was Elena’s pastsight spell. And even then they didn’t review it during this so-called trial. It was a… a… it was like something from the time of Shuriki.” </p>
<p>Sofia sat in silence as he explained. At Everrealm academy she’d learned a lot about leading justly. A leader’s responsibility to their people was to treat them fairly. Even if you already know they are guilty, you owe it to them to give them the same respect you would the blameless person. But something else also stuck out to her.<br/>“The Royal Council,” She said carefully, “Who was on it?” <br/>Mateo gave her a knowing look, as if he had been waiting for this. He had thought about this exact thing countless times.<br/>“Elena. Her grandparents. And her best friend Naomi Turner.”<br/>“But they can never be expected to give a fair trial- the way they feel would always get in the way.” Sofia said, “And they did this the same day they arrested him? When they were still upset?”<br/>“So upset, that Elena’s magic was literally throwing things off the walls. She broke my model solar system.” Mateo confirmed.<br/>“Surely Avalor has a judge and jury system? No gentry? Not even a civilian court? No system of law beyond the Queen?” Sofia said, wrapping her head around all of this. She’d personally experienced court in other kingdoms, somehow she’d always assumed that it was the same in Avalor as it was in Enchancia. <br/>“When Shuriki took over she removed most of the ruling government. Esteban and her became just about every position in government overnight. And when Elena took over, for one reason or another she never restored the old positions. Just ask the Delgados.”<br/>“And Elena really kept it that way?” <br/>Mateo shrugged sadly. </p>
<p>	Sofia pulled her chair up closer. Now he had her attention.<br/>“And then what happened?” She asked.<br/>“Esteban escaped from prison with the Delgados.”<br/>“The family of evil wizards.” Sofia  confirmed.<br/>“That’s them. While escaping they got into some kind of an argument and Ash turned her husband Victor to stone- Carla and Victor were then captured by Elena and me. Meanwhile Esteban and Ash got away and we know how well that went.”<br/>“What happened to Carla and Victor?” Sofia asked, already fearing the answer.<br/>“Well if it wasn’t obvious there was no trial.” Mateo said bitterly, “When we captured them Carla promised Elena she’d do anything if we undid the stone spell on her father. Thinking back on it… She probably could have led us to Ash’s base. Only Elena kept her imprisoned in the dungeon. And she kept Victor as a statue in her garden. A statue that Elena later moved into the dungeons after she lost control of her magic one too many times and nearly smashed him to pieces. He had a few close calls that I was able to llevaluque in the nick of time. But in the dungeon... he was in plain view of Carla. Just out of reach. Like a living corpse. Carla was isolated and alone. With her father’s stone body. For years.”<br/>“But that’s so cruel! Why would she do that?” Sofia said in protest. Elena had spent 41 years in extreme isolation, watching as the things she wanted were just out of reach. Surely she knew better than anyone what that was like? Why would she ever wish it on someone else- no matter how bad a crime they’d committed? And to keep Victor in stone? Why? Was he really so dangerous that he needed to be entombed like that? In Sofia’s experience a wizard or a sorcerer was harmless without a wand; she could count the number of magicians she’d met who could practice wandless magic on one hand. And even then, there were special magical prisons they could be kept in.<br/>“I don’t think Elena did it to be intentionally cruel.” Mateo said seriously, “I think she did what was most convenient to her. And thought that, well, if it worked out in her favor it had to be good.”<br/>“But that’s so thoughtless- didn’t anyone speak up or say anything?” Sofia asked, “What about the Royal Council? What about you?”<br/>Mateo gave a grim little smile. “It’s hard to explain Sofia. But something about Elena makes it so that you just trust her. Something she might do or say might seem a little off but you just know that she has the right idea in mind. That Elena has a plan. And you believe, you truly believe that in the end everything will turn out all right. Because Elena will make sure it will. I didn’t realize what a slippery slope we were heading down.”<br/>“So I’m guessing it didn’t stop with the Delgados.” Sofia said dubiously.</p>
<p>“No, it didn’t.” Mateo confirmed, “I personally trained the royal guard to do magic, as an anti-malvago precaution. At first it was just a few guards, but it expanded pretty quickly. They patrolled the streets regularly, keeping an eye out for malvagos. And you can imagine trials for any major criminals they caught were non-existent. After Grand Macaw and the four shades were defeated we thought that everything would be ok. That Avalor was finally safe. Then the assasination attempts began. The first ones were by former Shuriki supporters. A couple of them wound up accidentally turned to stone in the fight, and we couldn’t unfreeze them because they were obviously evil so Elena put them in her garden just like Fiero and Victor. Then there was a group of nobles who were angry that after being crowned Queen Elena hadn’t restored the land and titles that Shuriki had stolen from them. Their leader didn’t even get to be a statue. And then there were so many malvagos. Some master malvago had started a school of evil magic and started churning out evil wizards like there was no tomorrow. We had no idea how many of them were out there, hiding in plain sight. So we increased security even more. I trained more guards to be wizards. And we had the shops report to us if anyone bought ingredients used in potion making, and I was ok with it, because it would help us spot malvagos.Though now I realize it’s probably exactly the sort of thing Shuriki did to find people like me.<br/>“Elena would use her farsight and pastsight for hours at a time to try and find out what all of these malvagos were up to. We hired even more guards. I had this frankly brilliant idea to put color and number coded markers in the jungle so that Elena could use them as landmarks to figure out where criminals were hiding when she farsighted them. And after we caught them well… we realized that some criminals were too dangerous to keep in the dungeon, so… so I suggested to Elena that I turn them to stone.”<br/>Mateo wavered now, “Sofia you have to understand, I just wanted to keep Elena and Avalor safe. I thought I was doing the right thing. A-and our dungeons have been shown time and time again to be not good enough- and criminals only escaped when they had a chance to talk to each other and..so… I started to fill Elena’s garden with statues.” <br/>Sofia gasped. She had expected it to be that Elena was the one who made the statues, not Mateo. <br/>“Elena agreed it was for the best.” He said ashamed. “Sofia, when people are turned to stone they are frozen in time. They have no idea what’s going on in the world outside them. They don’t age. And they can be kept that way forever. They can never die. It’s… it’s supposedly better than just straight up killing them. And it’s a pretty simple potion to reverse the spell if you need to. But it also means that if they never get turned back then they can never meet their familia in the spirit world.”<br/>“That’s horrible.” Sofia whispered, taking in everything he was saying. </p>
<p>She reflected on his words. Elena was a hero to Mateo. Or had been. How could he have ever assumed she was anything else? He clearly loved her enough to do bad things for her and Elena was clearly ok with it. Whatever happened to finally make him turn on her must have been really bad. Sofia hated to think what it could be.<br/>“What made you finally realize what she was doing was wrong?” She was almost afraid to ask.<br/>“She turned my mother to stone.” His voice was dead. He’d already spent all his tears. <br/>“You mean she made you do it?” Sofia asked, horrified.<br/>“No. Elena did it. By herself.”<br/>“Tell me what happened.” Sofia insisted, undoing the lasso on him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>Sorry for the three week wait, I hit a serious roadblock while working on this chapter. It has been the hardest chapter yet to write. Originally I was dumb and tried to write it from Mateo's perspective (very dumb idea) and then I had to decide how to handle the events of 'The Lightning Warrior'. If it wasn't obvious this fic is now canon divergent, this was sort of inevitable with new content coming out. In this timeline Ixlan was able to be freed without the use of malvagos and so as a result Victor and Carla were never freed.</p>
<p>See you next time Avalor!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Mateo</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Mateo</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She’s listening to me! She’s actually listening to me! Mateo was relieved as the lasso went away. Maybe she will help me. Maybe this wasn’t all for nothing!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“All of this started during Sweethearts Day two years ago,” He began, glad to be sitting comfortably again, “I was still living in the castle, and well, I had big plans for that day.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His face flushed and his heart hurt as he remembered just what those plans were. He’d been such a different person back then. Sometimes he forgot that he and that naive young man were the same person. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well...anyways, let me start at the beginning…”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <b>Mateo, Two Years Ago.</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Mateo de Alva, the royal wizard of Avalor, looked himself over in the mirror for the fourth time in the past twenty minutes. His long curly hair was kept tidily in a ponytail, his face was cleanly shaven and his goatee was trimmed nicely. His robes had been freshly washed, steamed and triple checked for any frayed hems, breaks in the goldwork trim or other battle-incurred damages. Yes, he was certain of it, he looked great. And today was the day, he was especially certain of that. Today was the day that Mateo de Alva was going to finally confess his feelings to Queen Elena Castillo Flores. He was sure that this time he’d be able to do it. Absolutely positive. Failure was impossible. He... he was just going to take one more look in that mirror, just in case.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Mateo sighed. Part of him wondered if it was hopeless. Every time he tried to tell Elena how he really felt, something would inevitably happen. Like an evil fairy would attack. Or a new group of malvagos would pop up. Or Elena would get new magic powers or betrayed by a cousin or just plain something would get in the way and make it impossible for Mateo to even think about imposing his feelings on her; she didn’t need the headache of a starry eyed boy. Which Mateo completely understood, Elena had been through things, things he could only imagine. And he respected Elena’s feelings more than his own sometimes, it was mostly just frustrating how the timing always seemed to correspond directly with whenever he’d finally found the confidence to tell her how he really felt. But this time he had planned for every possible thing that could go wrong, at least that he could think of. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Today was Sweetheart’s Day and with Gabe’s help Mateo had set up extra security basically everywhere. The castle, the courtyard, within the city, even the docks. They left no stone unturned; there would be no malvago attacks on his watch. Mateo had checked and double checked every old Maruvian legend and prophecy for any sign at all that some sort of ancient magical evil wasn’t due to wake up from a dark shadowy sleep or pop it’s evil head out of a pocket dimension today. Good news, they weren’t. Mateo had pre-ordered orchids from three different vendors and had another set of flowers delivered to him personally. He had even made certain that Flo was distracted for the day by giving her a ‘very important project’ to work on.  Mateo had prepared for every possible complication, or well, that he could think of anyways. There was just one complication he wasn’t sure he could overcome: himself. Mateo still wasn’t certain that he’d be able to find it in himself to say the words. Four words, harder to say than any master level spell. Elena, I love you, he mouthed to the mirror, as he had countless times in the past. Guilty embarrassment crept up inside, why was this so hard? It felt like this would be his greatest challenge yet. Sighing, Mateo picked up the bouquet of orchids and with a jolt realized he’d forgotten something of enormous importance: his mother. She needed him for something this morning and he was already an hour late. Mateo was doomed. His love issues would have to wait, for now he’d have to wait for the mother of all lectures on timeliness.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After he got his mandated lecture, Mateo instead found himself a complication he had never even considered: his mother’s opinion on his love life.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mama! What do you mean it’s a bad idea?” Mateo protested as he helped his mother carry half a dozen awkward shaped brown-paper wrapped parcels from her house to her carriage. The packages floated into the carriage as he guided them carefully with his tamborita.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean that it is a bad idea and I am surprised that you don’t see why.” His mother replied firmly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What- because she’s the queen and I’m the royal wizard?” Mateo retorted back, astonished that his mother would think that that would even be an issue for Elena.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His mother gave him a tired look, “No mijo, although that certainly plays a part. Have you really stepped back and thought about it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course I have!” Mateo said exasperated, “Only every waking minute!” The parcels flickered and fell to the ground as he lost focus. His mother shook her head and knelt to pick them up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No Mama- I got that, I’m sorry.” Mateo said, fumbling with his tamborita with frustration. Mateo rarely let his emotions get the best of him; especially with his magic. He’d learned from a young age that emotionally charged magic flare-ups could only end badly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about it Mateo. Your first love is a big deal.” His mother said, picking up one of the packages.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>First? Mateo thought irritated, I was kind of thinking ‘only’. Why is she being so patronizing? I’m an adult!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mateo asked, flicking his tamborita and scooping the packages back up again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rafa gave her son a meaningful look, “Only that I want the best for you. And that you will understand when you're older.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Older? Mama, how much older do I have to be? Gabe and Naomi got married years ago and you didn’t say anything then. You cried at their wedding!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mateo. That is Gabe and Naomi. You are my little Matito. And I know you. You are sensitive. And you oftentimes only see what you want to. And I can only see this ending badly for you.” His mother said, placing the last of the packages into her carriage.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Now, will you give your mama a goodbye kiss for sweethearts day before she takes the long ride into town?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Begrudgingly, Mateo complied. Part of him wanted to refuse, but he knew the guilt would eat him all day and it wouldn’t make him feel any better.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Now, remember, you are free to do whatever you feel is best. If you want to tell Elena how you feel, then that is your choice. Just as I am free to take all of these down to the marcado.” Mama said, getting into the carriage and gesturing vaguely at the brown paper wrapped package mountain behind her. One of the packages fell out of the carriage as she climbed in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What are these things for anyways?” Mateo asked, picking it up. It was mostly flat and rectangular, and felt vaguely like wood under the thin paper. The majority of the packages were like this one. A few of them were tubes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh it’s a special Sweetheart’s Day surprise the gardening club put together.” His mother said, taking the last package from him, “I’m sure you’ll see it later today.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sure it’ll be great.” Mateo replied, still frustrated. How old would he have to be for his Mama to see him as an adult?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <b>Mateo, The Present.</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m guessing your Mom’s surprise wasn’t exactly what you had in mind.” Sofia said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” Mateo said, “No it wasn’t anything like I’d imagined. I hadn’t realized it but she was keeping a lot from me… I think she was afraid of how I would react.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Afraid of how you’d react?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yea… let me continue.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b> Mateo, Two Years Ago.</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sweethearts day was going without a hitch. Mateo was amazed. No malvago attacks. No singing curses. Just chocolate and flowers and Elena. Elena was beautiful. She was so beautiful. She was wearing a new dress for the occasion, it was pink with a swirling orchid pattern, when her skirt twirled it was like the flowers were being carried by the wind. Her smile was like starshine. He found himself watching her as she danced across the palace making sure that everything was running smoothly for the day. His plan was to give her the orchids ideally under the gazebo at the palace, since they had so much history together there. It was a special place. But if that didn’t work then he had a few back-up locations. The park, her family's chocolate shop, and the fountain in the marcado were his targets. The absolute worst case scenario option was the palace steps at night.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t get to give them to her at the gazebo. Or in the park. Or at the chocolate shop. Everytime Mateo thought he saw an opening, Elena would be swept off by castle staff or townspeople or any number of things. Everyone loves Elena, Mateo thought as Elena was whisked off to talk to Armando’s family, Marcado fountain was looking like a dud as well, Mateo thought defeatedly. He’d already lost 3 of his 4 sets of orchids to the cruel conspirings of fate. The first ones never made it out of the palace, smashed under a giant pile of Sweethearts Day decorations and supplies. The ones for the park were eaten by a donkey, and that was only after Mateo had already saved them from getting smashed by a group of flash performance dancers. The third ones met a chocolatey death at Luisa’s chocolate shop. Mateo held the final bouquet close to his chest, trying not to get angry. Why did it seem like the universe was doing everything in its power to stop him and Elena from being together? </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Mateo watched forlornly as Elena laughed and made her way back to the carriage, her sister Isa in tow. Gabe and Naomi had split off earlier to spend the day together. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you coming Mateo?” Elena called.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Coming!” Mateo said, hastily stuffing the bouquet back into pocket-space. Being a wizard had its benefits. I can’t give up. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy, he reminded himself as he hurried after the girls to the carriage. So you give her the flowers on the castle steps, it’s not the end of the world. The location isn’t what matters. What matters is that she finds out how you feel. What matters is that you took the risk. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <b>Mateo, The Present.</b>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We arrived at the palace next.” Mateo said somberly, hands curling into his fists on his lap. His breaths shook. He found himself staring at a spot on the floor behind Sofia, not able to make eye contact. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sofia, you have to understand.. What happens next… is really hard for me to talk about. I- I had no idea my Mama was planning any of this. I had my head so far in the clouds, I didn’t see what was right in front of my face.” Mateo hung his head in shame, gripping his wrist, eyes fixating on a series of unraveled threads on the edge of his tattered gloves.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Take as long as you need to.” Sofia said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you, Sofia.” Mateo said, taking a moment to breath before continuing. Inhale. Exhale. You have to do this, you have to tell her, Mateo reminded himself. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <b> Mateo, Two Years Ago.</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There was a commotion outside the palace gates and a feeling of confusion turned to dread as the carriage carrying Mateo, Elena and Isa pulled across the bridge. About two dozen picketers blocked the front gate, standing on boxes and barrels and holding signs Mateo couldn’t quite comprehend.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>WHERE WAS THEIR TRIAL?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>MAGIC IS NOT A CRIME</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>YOUR MAJESTY: IS THIS TRULY A FREE AVALOR?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There were others as well, saying all kinds of things. Horrible things. Things Mateo couldn’t even begin to process. And then there, in the middle of it all, standing up on a box with her fist in the air, was his mother. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“We spent 40 years not speaking up! We owe it to our children to show them that Avalor is brave! That Avalor will not tolerate another 40 years under a tyrant!”  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Mama?” Mateo said dumbfounded as the carriage came to a stop a short distance away. Elena’s guards entered protective stances around the carriage. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Those of us who come from magical families should not be afraid of shopping for the same ingredients we have for centuries! We are not malvagos!” Rafa shouted, joined by resounding cheers. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And those who are arrested deserve true trials! Where is the jury? Why is the Queen the only voice? Is this the time of Elena or the time of Shuriki?”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There were more cheers as Elena stood up from her seat in the carriage. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Elena, what’s going on?” Isa asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> It was at that moment that the world started running in slow motion. Mateo watched as Elena stepped out of the college. He was vaguely aware of the guards telling her to get back inside for her safety. He knew he needed to move, but found himself sluggish, snail like and still not fully comprehending what was happening.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How can you possibly compare me to Shuriki?” Elena demanded, standing between the carriage and his mother, “After everything I have done for Avalor? After everything I have been through? How could I ever be anything like that monster?!” Her dress turned from pink to orange. It was made out of the special fabric Mateo had enchanted. Magic. Elena was losing control of her magic. Eyes still on Elena, Mateo made a motion to open the carriage door. There was visible fear in his mother’s eyes, but then she took a deep breath.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A person is defined by their actions. Not by what led them to do them.” Rafa said, stepping off her box and walking to face Elena. Fist in the air, hand gesturing to the crowd behind her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Our Queen asked us once if she was ready to rule. I say she never was. I say she is no better than Shuriki!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How. Dare. You.” Elena said. Mateo felt the wind around them stop. He tasted the crystalline magic in the air. Saw Elena’s hand go to her scepter.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Elena- no!” He finally shouted, finally got out of the carriage, stumbling onto the ground. Mateo dragged himself to his feet, falling to the ground beside Elena’s as his mother was consumed by orange magic. Mateo watched wordlessly as his mother’s hand-stitched dress turned to solid stone, her clay and jade beads turned grey, her face frozen, eyes locked on Elena. The dozen or so protesters behind her solidified. The damning words on their signs lost beneath smooth undetailed stone. And then it was silent. Elena’s dress turned back to it’s Sweethearts Day pink. Mateo pulled himself onto his knees trying to understand why. Mama...she just… And Elena… His hand went inside his robe and pulled out the smashed remains of the last orchid. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He held the broken flower in his palm, trying to rationalize what he had just seen.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Come on Mateo, we need to get back to the palace. They were probably planning something worse.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mateo looked up at Elena offering him her hand. And back again at his stone-faced mother, already being carted away by Elena’s guards. He closed his fist around the little purple flower in his palm. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mama had been right. Elena and him could never be together.  He got to his feet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yea, let’s get back to the palace.” He’d said, following the Queen back into the carriage.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello readers! Long time no update! Coronation Day has come and gone and now this fic is fully canon divergent. I had a lot to think about before I got this one out. Grad school has me super busy but don't worry, I'll be working on it in bits and pieces when I have time :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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